You were once a humanoid, and still retain most of your memories from that life. Now divested of a living body, you are considered to be both a humanoid and undead. Wherever the rules create a situation where these two categories conflict, work with your DM to come to a solution that feels appropriate to the setting and aesthetic of the character.

A hauntling does not age. Your appearance is a self-perception, based on the memory of how you looked and felt in life. This may be an almost perfect representation, or it might be quite different. A creature that was slain as a spritely old man may return as a youthful in appearance. A hauntling may even present as an entirely different size or gender to what they were while alive. Whatever the case, you remain visibly recognizable to those that knew you in life.

Your size is medium or small, and may change over time depending on your self-perception.

You have a walking speed of 30 feet. Your footsteps are muffled and you do not leave footprints except in materials that you can interact with, such as salt or magical sand.

Your spirit is bound to an object that was important to you in life, or which represents your unfinished business. This object is known as your anchor. Such an heirloom may be large or smaller in size, and must not possess any magical properties outside of those it receives for being your anchor. It is considered to be magical for purposes related to your Ephemeral Nature.

You and your anchor are intrinsically linked. It is your safe harbour and resting place, but so long as you remain tethered to your anchor, you are unable move on to whatever afterlife still awaits you, and you cannot leave the plane on which you anchor exists. There is also a limit to how far away you can willingly move from your anchor. This range is equal to 10 x your level in feet. If you end your turn beyond the range of your anchor, you suffer 1d10 force damage and are forcibly moved up to 30 ft. towards it.

If you are reduced to 0 hit points while within range of your anchor, your incorporeal body vanishes and takes shelter within the heirloom. In this state, you have advantage on Death Saving Throws and recover 1 hit point at the end of 1d4 hours.

Your anchor has an AC and hit points equal to your own, and is immune to all forms of non-magical damage. If it is destroyed, it reforms, undamaged and whole in 2d6 hours in a free space within range of you. Until then, you are unable to rest and cannot recover hit points by any means. If you are reduced to 0 hit points while your anchor is destroyed, you have disadvantage on Death Saving throws.

You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern colour in darkness, only shades of grey.

You can see and hear echoes of the ethereal plane to a range of 60 feet, with sounds coming to as if from a great distance away, and images appearing as translucent figures. However, you cannot interact with anything in the ethereal and your anchor prevents you from crossing over yourself.

You can move through other creatures and solid objects as if they are difficult terrain. You take 1d10 force damage if you end your turn inside an object.

Being incorporeal, you cannot interact with most of the material world. The exceptions to this are any objects imbued with magic (including your anchor) or which are consecrated or desecrated, buildings that stand on consecrated or desecrated ground, and anything comprised primarily of lead or salt. These materials are as tangible to you as they are to a corporeal creature. However, you may only carry or use a limited number of magical items equal to your proficiency bonus, and you cannot wear any forms of armour. The DM may decide that other materials share similar properties, which may be universal to the setting in which you are playing, or specific to you, owing to a sentimental quality resonating from your life.

• You do not need to eat, drink, or breathe. You also do not sleep, but must spend at least 6 hours resting inside your anchor to benefit from a long rest, or 1 hour for a short rest. While resting in this way, you are blinded, but may still hear as normal.
• You are immune to disease, and to poison and necrotic damage. You also have resistance to cold damage, and to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from non-magical attacks from weapons not comprised of lead or salt.
• You are immune to being Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified or Poisoned, and cannot be Restrained by non-magical means.
• Unlike other forms of undead, you have advantage on saving throws against affects that turn Undead. If you are turned, you can choose to take shelter in your anchor instead of moving away from the source.

You linger with a vestige of life, allowing you to be targeting by healing magic, though not to the same degree as a truly living being. When you are targeted by healing magic that has no effect on undead, you heal for half the amount of hit points, rounding up, instead of the full amount. If your anchor is destroyed, you cannot recover hit points by any means until your anchor reforms.

The reasons for a hauntling to be trapped on the mortal planes is varied, and so each hauntling is as unique as the life that created it. At 1st level, you take one of the following traits.

• Undying Emotion. A powerful emotion such as rage or sorrow binds you to undeath. You can channel this madness to harm the living. Your unarmed attacks are considered to be natural weapon attacks and deal 1d6 necrotic damage on a hit. If you roll a critical hit, you add one additional die to the damage roll and the target’s hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to this added die. This reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest.
• Eternal Warrior. You can use a bonus action to conjure up to two phantom weapons or one weapon and a phantom shield with which you are proficient. Attacks made with these weapons deal force damage. Ranged weapon attacks do not require ammunition, and neither ranged nor thrown weapons attacks can be made at long range. If a spectral weapon should leave your hand for any reason, it disappears at the end of that turn.
• Path of Lichdom. You are considered to be in possession of a spellcasting focus of your choice when casting spells. Alternatively, you may conjure a phantom musical instrument or a toolset of your choice with which you are proficient and can use as a spellcasting focus.

At 3rd level, you are beginning to discover exactly what your intangible form is capable of. You gain one of the following traits of your choice.

• Light as Smoke. You gain a Flying (hover) speed of 30 feet. You also learn the misty step spell, and can cast it once with this feature. You may also cast it using a spell slot of appropriate level. When you cast the spell using this feature, you appear at your destination as if composed of shadowy smoke, granting you advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks until the end of your turn.
• Phantom Armor. You conjure spectral armour that protects your spirit from harm. Your AC becomes 13 + your Dexterity modifier. You may still benefit from the use of a phantom shield.
• You learn the mage hand cantrip. When you cast the spell using this feature, the hand is invisible. You also learn the Catapult spell and may cast it once at its lowest level without the use of a spell slot. When cast in this way, you may target an object that weighs up to 25 lbs.

At 5th level, you learn to exploit a loophole of your incorporeal nature to temporarily sidestep the restrictions of your anchor. You gain one of the following traits of your choice. While any of the following abilities are active, you do not feel the tether of your anchor, and are not subject to any penalties related to its range, nor do you enjoy any benefits it bestows.

• Assume Corporeality. You use an action to momentarily force yourself onto the material world, becoming a solid being. While corporeal, you are not immune to being grappled or restrained. The condition ends early if you choose to end it as a free action or if you are reduced to 0 hit points. You may remain corporeal for an accumulative number of minutes equal to your proficiency bonus each day. This time limit resents when you finish a long rest.
• Revenant Possession. You may use an action to take possession of a medium or small humanoid or bestial corpse within 5 feet of you which is not already affected by any form of magic. While you remain in possession of the corpse, you are considered to have full cover from all attacks and effects, and you are immune to effects that would turn undead. You retain your Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma scores, as well as your immunity to being poisoned, but otherwise use the statistics the form would have had in life. You do not gain access to any knowledge, abilities or proficiencies it had while alive. You can end the possession using a free action. If you are reduced to 0 hit points, the possession ends early and the corpse is destroyed and cannot be raised or possessed again. You can use this trait once, regaining the ability when you finish a long rest.
• Ghostly Possession. One creature within 5 feet of you must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or be possessed by you for up to 1 hour. The DC for this save equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier. While possessed by you, the target is incapacitated and loses control of its body, though it remains aware. Meanwhile, you gain control of their body as if it were your own, and are considered to have full cover from all attacks and effects other than those that turn undead. You retain you Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma scores, but otherwise use the target’s statistics. You do not gain access to its knowledge, nor any of its abilities or proficiencies. At the end of each ten-minute period, the target can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on a success. The possession also ends if the body drops to 0 hit points, if you end it as a bonus action, or if you are forced out, either by being turned or by an applicable spell or magical effect. You can use this trait once, regaining the ability when you finish a long rest.